
Reta Winters has many reasons to be happy. Then, suddenly, all the quiet satisfactions of her well-lived life disappear in a moment: her eldest daughter Norah inexplicably drops out of college and is found on a Toronto street corner, pan-handling and refusing to speak, with a cardboard sign reading GOODNESS around her neck.... (Full plot summary below)
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Reta Winters has many reasons to be happy. Then, suddenly, all the quiet satisfactions of her well-lived life disappear in a moment: her eldest daughter Norah inexplicably drops out of college and is found on a Toronto street corner, pan-handling and refusing to speak, with a cardboard sign reading GOODNESS around her neck.
Leave your thoughts about Unless.
| Irish IndependentPaul WhitingtonIt's a handsome film, soulful but efficient, and Keener and Hannah Gross deliver fine performances. |
| Sunday Times (UK)Katy HayesThe film is a beautiful piece of work with a searing truthfulness. Keener plays the parental helplessness with subtle intelligence. |
| Georgia StraightKen EisnerEverything then leads to a "gotcha" ending that feels exploitative rather than illuminating. |
| NOW TorontoSusan G. ColeKeener is great as usual, convincingly conveying confusion and grief, and the film is visually intense, its handheld cameras relying on close-ups. |
| RTÉ (Ireland)Paddy KehoeAlan Gilsenan's adaptation of Carol Shields' final novel Unless has the delicate touch and the humanity that characterise his documentaries. Yet somehow one is left wanting more. |
| Film Ireland MagazineSarah CullenAs it goes, the conclusion to Unless is too cut-and-dry to offer any lasting commentary regarding homeless issues. |
| Globe and MailMark MedleyWhat worked in Shields's quiet, contemplative novel about a family in crisis falls flat on screen. |
| National PostChris KnightThe best adaptations stand on their own. Unless, adapted by director Alan Gilsenan from Carol Shields' novel, doesn't stand so much as slowly slide to the ground. |
| Cinema ScopeAngelo MureddaFailing to articulate the feminist argument that sets the novel apart, if anything does, Gilsenan is instead doggedly loyal to Shields' worst impulses. |